In modern society, efforts are ongoing to prevent or lessen environmental impacts resulting from leaking of petroleum products and other chemicals into the environment. Efforts are made by petroleum industry workers, chemical industry workers, transportation industry workers, military personnel, governmental workers, and other workers involved in liquid and chemical containment to guard against environmental contamination resulting from undesired release into the environment of various liquids and chemicals. Various portable spill prevention capture and control berm units and systems have been developed as tools in the ongoing efforts by society to contain liquids and other flowable materials. Many spill prevention capture and control berm units are constructed from petroleum and chemically resistant flexible coated fabrics including polyester yarn fabrics coated with polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride or other suitable coating material and many of these spill prevention capture and control berm units have flexible sidewalls held in an erect condition by sidewall stays.
An object of the present invention is to provide a compact and easily deployable (erectable) berm unit having a plurality of novel easily replaceable cooperating inside stays and a plurality of stay securement tapes that is more convenient and easier to use than prior art berm units.
Another object of the invention is to provide a undeployed, compactly folded berm unit that can be quickly retrieved from a convenient storage location by a user or retrieved from within a motor vehicle by an operator of the motor vehicle and deployed (erected) quickly to capture or control spilling or leaking of materials at the location or from the motor vehicle.
The present invention relates to a novel inside stay berm unit incorporating a plurality of novel inside stays each stay connected to the interior of the berm unit by a plurality of stay securement tapes. Each respective stay is a respective closed ring after the stay is threaded through and retained within at least one respective wing aperture in at least one floor stay securement tape and at least one wing aperture in at least one sidewall stay securement tape and through at least one wing loop aperture in a sidewall top edge stay securement tape and closed by a closure means. The invention allows easy removal and replacement of any damaged stays.
Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of inside stays that can be selectively and quickly shifted between a collapsed condition and an erect condition.
The present invention relates to a novel inside stay and inside stay berm unit that improves the utility of a portable berm unit used to contain liquids and chemicals and that helps protect against release of the liquids and chemicals into the environment.